TWO HUNDRED tonnes of household waste including toasters and lawnmowers went up in flames at a Newport recycling plant in the early hours of this morning.

The waste was stockpiled and awaiting recycling at the Sims Metal plant on the Northside of the South dock at Alexandra Dock in Newport when the fire broke out shortly after 1.15am.

A security guard from the site called the emergency services at 1.19am.

Six fire engines and around 30 firefighters were sent to the scene and the fire was well alight when they arrived.

At the height of the fire, at around 4am, there were around 70 firefighters, eight fire engines as well as water bowsers and other specialist appliances.

It took firefighters around seven hours to control the blaze and 25 firefighters remained on the site this morning, damping down.

Mechanical diggers were used to turn over the piles of charred metal and melted plastic to find any remaining hotspots.

Alison Kibblewhite, group manager for South Wales Fire and Rescue, estimated fire crews would remain on site for most of the morning, and would return later in the day to check the site.

She said: "We are not sure at this stage how the fire started.

"But it is lucky the site of the fire was on open land, well away from any buildings, otherwise we would have needed a much bigger operation."

She said most of the waste, which included vacuum cleaners, toasters, VCRS and other household goods had been stripped down to metal and plastic.

Police and an ambulance also attended the blaze as a precaution, but no-one was injured.

The Environment Agency also attended, but fortunately fire officers said the wind carried the main plume of smoke across the Channel.